Perfluoropropane, C.sub.3 F.sub.8, is useful for etching silicon chips, as a refrigerant, as a gaseous dielectric, and as a propellant.
Vapor phase chlorofluorination of two-carbon hydrocarbons to make saturated halocarbons is known, but two-carbon hydrocarbons have only terminal carbons, while three-carbon hydrocarbons also have a secondary carbon, which has sharply different reactivity in reactions with halogens and halogen compounds.
Vapor phase chlorofluorination of higher hydrocarbons (containing three or more carbon atoms) or isopropyl fluoride is reported in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,436,430, 3,865,885, and 4,110,406. The reactions described in these references gave almost exclusively unsaturated products.
The reaction of a chlorinated hydrocarbon with 1-8 carbon atoms with HF to substitute F for Cl is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,258,500.